Scorched Souls
by Lady-Starfire2005
Summary: He really thought she would forget what he had done to her. Everyone thought Chris was such a wonderful guy. Are they in for a surprise. Aida Stryker thought.
1. Default Chapter

They claimed they were the good guys. Circle Daybreak were supposed to help you in a crisis. Yet Star couldn't help feeling they were still judging her, plotting against her.  
  
"It gets easier," her roommate, former vampire hunter Rashel Jordan commented. She was sat on one of the twin beds as she watched Star unpacking. Yeah, that was their idea, giving Star Redfern a vampire hunter for a roommate. Star was pretty sure Rashel still had issues with the Redfern.  
  
"So I've heard," Star said coolly, taking the lid of a box of books. Star was finding it hard to not turn around and yell at Rashel to stop staring at her. Rashel had been in a similar and now she had the respect and admiration of the Daybreakers.  
  
As Lily Redfern's only daughter Star was convinced the Daybreaks thought she was playing them in order to bring them down from within. It was a kind of tempting thought, but not what Star was planning. She'd heard the whispers that she was only there so she could pounce unexpectedly and get revenge for her mother's death.  
  
Out of male heirs and without time to make and train another one, and no word from the long lost Garnet, Star was supposed to have taken over the Council after Hunter unexpectedly disappeared.  
  
"It just takes a little getting used to," Rashel went on. "But Chris is a nice guy. He's been around for as long as anyone can remember."  
  
"I know that," Star said through gritted teeth as she put a bookend in the shape of a purple dragon on the end of the shelf.  
  
_If only I could breathe fire_, Star thought. She had an amusing image of herself chasing a bunch of screaming Daybreakers while they ran to escape as she breathed fire on them.  
  
"How's the unpacking going Do you ever run out of boxes? There's, like, five more to come."  
  
Star resisted the urge to pick up one of the books she had just unpacked and throw it at Poppy North, the made vampire with bouncy red curls who never seemed to run out of energy. She was annoyingly perky no matter what was going on.  
  
"I'm moving my whole life up here, there's going to be a lot of boxes to unpack," Star said.  
  
"Yeah, I know. I'm just glad I'm not the one who has to carry them," Poppy said with a grin. "Do you want the rest brought up?"  
  
_I want to get the hell out of here_, Star thought. _Don't know why they won't just let me stay in one of the safe houses in the other cities or even a small town with no more than a hundred people would be better than here.  
_  
They had, for some reason, just insisted that Star come live in the Daybreak headquarters mansion in Las Vegas.  
  
"Yeah, bring them up," Star answered, hoping her politeness didn't sound too forced.

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"How's she settling in?" Thierry asked.  
  
"So far she seems to be doing okay," Hannah said, leaning against the closed door of her soulmate's office. Thierry sat behind his large wooden desk staring pensively at a glass ornament in the shape of an eagle on his desk next to a stand with some expensive fountain pens in, fingers drumming lightly.  
  
"How are the others reacting to her?"  
  
Hannah shrugged. "They're okay, just treating her like every other new person who comes in. She's a little cold, but that's understandable."  
  
Thierry nodded. He had expected what Hannah was telling him. There was no reason for him not to trust Star Redfern, it was just…  
  
"What's wrong?" Hannah asked him.  
  
Thierry shook his head. Outside it was actually raining. Sheets pelted his windows with such force he felt fore sure any minute the glass would crack. Sheets of lightning lit up the sky. The desert storm probably wouldn't last for long, but it was a fantastic sight to see. "I don't know, I suppose maybe because I still have some issues with the Redferns. Especially ones with powerful connections, even if those connections are dead." He raised a hand as Hannah opened her mouth "I know, I know. Probably just being silly. But…Star's doing her best to change." Thierry sighed. "I don't know what it is about her that makes me worried."  
  
"Maybe it's not her," Hannah suggested. "You've known Chris practically forever."  
  
Thierry smiled and nodded. The guy had been one of Maya's toy-boys, only once she had found Hannah and set her sights on how to kill her that life time, Chris had soon bored her and she had sent a pack of werewolves after him. Finding him at the point of death Thierry had saved him.  
  
Chris had always been there when he had needed a friend and was second in command of Circle Daybreak. "I have no reason not to trust Chris."  
  
Hannah shrugged. "Well you remembered the whole Luna Johvas issue."  
  
Thierry frowned. He did, but was sure Chris wouldn't make the same mistake twice. "It was dealt. Go help Star with her unpacking."  
  
Hannah glanced back at him, then left the office.  
  
_There's no reason to be worried,_ Thierry told himself. Star will settle in fine. _There's no reason not to trust her. Chris is my friend and I've never doubted him before and won't start now._

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	2. Part 2

Part 2  
  
People just didn't disappear. Even the most powerful witches couldn't even make themselves just vanish into thin air. So how did Star Redfern manage it? Her apartment had been totally cleared out of Star's personal items, the furniture had been left there.  
  
"Why are we here again?"  
  
The bored voice of India Galena distracted Caleb Inferno briefly from his close inspection of the apartment. "To look for clues. Something. Anything."  
  
India sighed. "We've been over this place twice, Caleb."  
  
Caleb sighed. He stood in the centre of the living room, not really knowing where to look. "I don't understand. Star and I were going to be married after Christmas," he said forlornly.  
  
"Cold feet? Better now than at the alter," India suggested.  
  
"You didn't have to come, you know. I didn't ask," Caleb snapped.  
  
India shrugged, wrapping a strand of violet hair around her finger. "She was my best friend."  
  
The apartment was just…empty. It looked like a show room. There was no hint that anyone had ever lived there at any time. Caleb just couldn't understand it. Star had never shown any sign she was unhappy with him. There had been no reason for her to disappear. Figuring out why and what happened was driving him nuts.  
  
"All attempts at location spells and scrying for her have failed miserably," India said softly. "Star must have either made some powerful friends, either that or - "  
  
"Don't," Caleb cut her off harshly. "Don't. She's not dead. We'll find her."

* * *

He didn't understand. How could you possibly have two soulmates? It just wasn't supposed to happen. Chris couldn't recall a single case of anyone already having a soulmate then a month later, finding a new one in someone totally different.  
  
"And neither of them have a clue?" his roommate Abel asked, shaking his head and grinning as he flipped through a basketball magazine.  
  
Chris lay on his back on his own bed, a pillow pressed over his face. "No. Do you really think I'm that stupid?"  
  
Abel snorted. "I think it might be wise for me to not answer that one."  
  
Chris groaned. "You're not helping."  
  
"What do you want me to do about it?" Abel asked.  
  
Chris shrugged and sat up, his blond hair galling in bangs over his eyes as he crossed his legs. "I don't know," he sighed moodily.  
  
"You got a better deal than the rest of us, make the most of it." Abel stood up from the desk chair he had been sitting in and tossed the magazine aside. "The girls are in different safehouses, both Daybreakers. What more could you want?"  
  
Chris shrugged. Convincing Star Redfern to give up her position to take over the Night World council had been hard enough. He knew some of the other Daybreakers living in the Las Vegas mansion were wary of Star, though he couldn't understand why if they were willing to trust Quinn, who had been Hunter's heir long before Star.  
  
On the other hand, his other soulmate Zandra Rayne was the perfect Daybreaker. She had been born and raised in a Daybreak family by Daybreak parents with two brothers, two sisters, some younger, some older, all of whom were excellent Daybreak agents. Zandra's fair beauty made her sort after by many guys, human, Daybreak and Night World, and she just happened to be Chris's other soulmate.  
  
For any Daybreak guy, Zandra seemed like the obvious choice to go with, but Chris just couldn't give up on Star. She'd given up her past and family and changed her life for him. Star knew her family would never accept Chris as her soulmate and they both knew there was no chance of him ever agreeing to work for the Night World. So it seemed unfair to take Star to Circle Daybreak and then abandon her for a girl who seemed perfect and faultless in comparison.  
  
"Ill trade you Caleigh for Star," Abel offered, shrugging into a full length black leather duster.  
  
"Not a chance in hell," Chris said instantly, grinning.  
  
Abel sighed. "Can't blame me for trying. Catch you later." He left the room.  
  
_And here's me thinking I had women troubles_, Chris thought , shaking his head. Abel's soulmate Caleigh was a human girl who didn't know about the Night World. Unfortunately, Caleigh was a spoiled snob. Her business tycoon parents spoiled her to make up for never being around. She expected everyone to wait on her hand and foot and Abel to be available at her request.  
  
She sometimes went for days without calling him, yet she seemed to have an uncanny sixth sense for when Abel turned his attention to other girls and would pester him. She was a very jealous person. Chris was immensely glad neither of his soulmates were that bad.  
  
Though it didn't make his situation any easier. 


	3. Part 3

He really thought she would forget what he had done to her. Everyone thought Chris was such a wonderful guy. Are they in for a surprise. Aida Stryker thought.  
  
"Is the apartment okay? It was all I could find on short notice but I think there might be a mansion available soon, or we could always, you know, make one available," Aida's twin sister Sadie asked.  
  
Aida stood at a large window that covered the entire length of the room, presenting a fantastic view of the town below, and a large lake surrounded by tall trees in the distance. Behind her was a living room and kitchen, to the right a hallway led to two bedrooms with their own bathrooms , to the left was a study and another room with an indoor pool and Jacuzzi.  
  
Aida shrugged, arms folded across her chest. "It's fine. Besides, depending on how things go we could be moving in here permanently."  
  
Sadie nodded, glancing around nervously, as if she expected something horrible to jump out from one of the closets. Aida's eyes rolled. "What is it now?"  
  
"I keep thinking they're going to come for us," Sadie said softly, unable to meet her sister's eyes.  
  
Aida laughed hollowly. She and her sister hadn't been fortunate enough to have been born into money, nor into the Night World either. While Sadie might have been content to live her ordinary human life Aida was always convinced there was something else out there, something her body and soul were crying out for that she wasn't getting, that was just out of reach to her.  
  
She'd been plagued by strange dreams of past times, ancient Babylonia, Persia, Egypt, France, Britain. Every time she had been a different person, yet still herself. Sometimes people from one of her dreams would appear again another life time - centuries later.  
  
And this was how Aida had learned of the Night World and realised what was missing from her life. She'd searched for the people in her dreams, actually managing to find some of the vampires. A stroke of luck for her came, when one of them, Benedict Redfern, had been looking for her as well. After they found each other, passion was ignited between them (they had been lovers in a former life of Aida's) and Benedict made her a vampire so they could be together, forever. He had wealth, power and status. He also had a secret will, just in case anything should ever happen to him, and named Aida beneficiary to everything he owned.  
  
Aida changed her sister Sadie, refusing to leave behind the only human who meant anything to her. Together they built a bomb and with the help of a witch friend of Aida's placed it on Benedict's private yacht. One afternoon while Benedict and a friend of his were out sailing, they used magic to set the bomb off, disposing of Benedict, leaving his death as a "tragic accident" the magic the witch used destroying all traces of foul play, and Aida got her money.  
  
It was shortly after this time Chris came into her life. She had been in love with him in several of her past lives. She didn't tell him anything about Benedict. She fell in love with Chris all over again, and they planned to marry. Too bad for her Chris never showed up.  
  
That had all been fifty years ago.  
  
Aida had tried to forget, tried to find someone else to move on from Chris, but was unable to stop thinking about him. It was hard to forget the love of your life. Sadie had been with her through everything, but unable to comfort her. Sadie tried to convince Aida her real soulmate was out there, but Aida didn't want her soulmate - she wanted Chris. Sadie didn't seem to be able to understand that.  
  
The twins still looked like the eighteen year olds they had been when they had been changed so it was easy for them to blend in with the modern world.  
  
"No one's smart enough to figure us out," Aida said, turning to face her sister. "It was fifty years ago and Benedict Redfern is long dead and gone, and will never return."  
  
Aida walked over to the front door. Sadie darted forward, grabbing her arm. "Where are you going?"  
  
"To look around," Aida jerked her arm free. "Jeez, get a life already."  
  
Get a life, Sadie thought, watching her sister leave. If you only knew.  
  
She was tired of Aida ordering her about, Aida's unnatural obsession with Chris. Why couldn't she just face the fact Chris had finished with her? If he was he would have married Aida when he was supposed to.  
  
Sadie picked up the black cordless phone sitting on a glass coffee table in the centre of the living room. She dialled a number. She waited. "It's me," she said when someone answered the other line.  
  
"How are you getting on? Does Aida suspect anything?"  
  
Sadie snorted. "Please. All Aida thinks of is herself and her stupid revenge."  
  
"Have you found him?"  
  
"Actually, I have," Sadie allowed herself a satisfied smirk as she took a seat on the green suede couch and turned on the TV with the remote control she found on the arm of the couch.  
  
"Good. In that case, you know the rest of our plan."  
  
Sadie smirked. "Absolutely."  
  
"Good. Call me in a few days."  
  
"Will do," Sadie said, and hung up, flipping through the channels until she came to a Smallville episode.  
  



End file.
